The invention relates to an instrument panel for a motor vehicle which extends over the width of a passenger compartment, in front of a driver's seat and of a passenger seat, and which exhibits an outer skin provided with a multiplicity of small through-passages which are distributed at least over a passenger-side region.
Such an instrument panel is known from German Patent Document DE 19 09 519U. The instrument panel in the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle is provided over the entire width of the passenger compartment with a multiplicity of through-passages which serve to channel treated or conditioned air into the passenger compartment. In this arrangement, there is provided, beneath the reinforcement moulding of the instrument panel, a chamber which serves as a distributor space for the treated or conditioned air.
An object of the invention is to provide an instrument panel of the type mentioned above, which is unobtrusive in the region of the passenger seat and makes it possible to provide a passenger airbag cost-effectively.
This object is achieved according to preferred embodiments of the invention in that the outer skin is produced from a temperature-independently dimensionally stable plastic material, in that an instrument-panel reinforcement provided beneath the outer skin exhibits, in the region of the passenger seat, a through-passage opening for a passenger airbag, in that the through-passages are arranged as perforations which permit the outer skin to be torn open in the region of the through-passage opening, and in that the perforations distributed over the instrument panel are in a pattern adapted to the contours of the through-passage opening such that the potential outlet region of the airbag cannot be detected.
Since the through-passages are arranged as perforations on the outer skin, at least over the entire passenger side, a stylistically uniform appearance of the instrument panel is achieved. Perforations merely in the region of the through-passage opening for the passenger airbag, said perforations conspicuously indicating the presence of a passenger airbag, are thus avoided. German Patent Document DE 41 37 926 A1 discloses an instrument panel which is perforated in this manner and in the case of which this stylistically unattractive impression is covered over by a foam panel adhesively bonded onto the instrument panel.
By using the temperature-independently dimensionally stable plastic material, the perforations maintain their geometrical shape even when they are subjected to a pronounced extent to heat or cold, as a result of which the overall aesthetic impression is not changed, Moreover, this consequently ensures an unchanging tear-open characteristic of the outer skin after the passenger airbag has been triggered. The use of liquid slush skins or powder slush skins has proved particularly advantageous. The perforations distributed over the instrument panel are in a pattern adapted to the contours of the through-passage opening. The pattern in the region of the through-passage opening thus continues over the entire width of the instrument panel, as a result of which a uniform, aesthetically pleasing overall impression is given.
In a further development of the invention, the through-passage opening is concealed by a flap which is retained pivotably on the instrument-panel reinforcement, and a soft elastic, energy-absorbing intermediate layer is provided between the instrument-panel reinforcement and the outer skin. The flap prevents the outer skin from collapsing in the region of the through-passage opening. The energy-absorbing intermediate layer offers protection, over the entire width of the instrument panel, against impact injuries for vehicle occupants. This results in a buffer layer in front of the relatively rigid moulding of the instrument-panel reinforcement.
In a further embodiment of the invention, there are provided, in the instrument-panel reinforcement, a plurality of ventilation openings for the rear-side connection of ventilation lines, through which air can be channelled into the passenger compartment via the perforations. The perforations consequently assume an additional function, it being possible, by virtue of the perforations being lined up considerably more closely to one another than in the prior art, to provide very uniform passenger-compartment air conditions.